Harry's Unexpected Rescue
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Harry has been hit by a dark spell after his fifth year and has to be taken away from the Dursleys. Will Professor Snape be able to help him? Will Professor Dumbledore send him back again? Completely AU after book five, Partly OOC, sick!Harry


**Harry's Unexpected Rescue**

Harry sighed and scrambled out of his bed to let Hedwig in. To his huge surprise, she was carrying a letter. "Hey, my girl, where have you been?" he asked, astonished, and proceeded to stroke her feathers before he opened the piece of parchment she had brought.

_Dear Mr. Potter_, it read, _someone will come to your residence at ten o'clock in the morning of July 1__st__ to take you to a small meeting room in the Leaky Cauldron for the reading of Sirius' will. Please be ready at ten o'clock. I will meet you at the Leaky Cauldron. Albus Dumbledore_.

'_1__st__ of July, that's today_,' Harry realized horrified, especially as a glance to his alarm clock told him that it already was 9:30 am. Moreover, he was feeling extremely unwell. From about the time when he had returned to Privet Drive at the beginning of June, his whole body had been aching and he was having a fever that seemed to get worse by the week. Needless to say that the Dursleys ignored his bad condition, making him do his usual chores.

As fast as he could, Harry stumbled into the shower and dressed in the best clothes he possessed apart from his school clothes, which he couldn't lay his hands on, since his uncle hat locked his trunk into the cupboard. '_I know that it's not all right to go to a meeting like this, but I can't help it_,' Harry mused and decided to put a sweater over his T-shirt, hoping that it would prevent him from shivering too much while he was at Diagon Alley. He was just putting his wand in the pocket of his jeans when he heard the bell ring and slowly left his room. In the meantime, Petunia had opened the door, and Harry stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the sneering voice of none other than Severus Snape, the most evil professor of Hogwarts. '_Why does it have to be him to take me to the Leaky Cauldron?_' he thought horrified while he slowly stumbled down the stairs, trying hard to keep himself upright in spite of the pain and dizziness he felt.

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Severus was waiting impatiently for the boy to descend the stairs and gave him an exasperated look when the boy walked down the stairs very slowly, clothed in worn out jeans and a much too large and too warm woollen sweater. Moreover, the boy's face was flushed and sweaty, and his hair that was wet as if he had just emerged from the shower was sticking to his forehead.

"Where do you believe you're going?" he hissed at the boy. "Don't you think a visit to Diagon Alley would warrant for more adequate clothing as well as a proper, clean appearance?" he sneered, glaring at his student.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I don't have better clothes, and my school trunk is locked away," Harry replied in a small voice, hating how hoarse his voice sounded.

Severus sighed in exasperation and waved his wand at the child, causing Harry to suddenly find himself in fitting black jeans with a dark green turtle neck pullover.

"Thanks a lot, Professor," Harry croaked relieved and unobtrusively put a hand against the wall to steady himself against the overwhelming dizziness he felt.

"We'll add proper robes to it later, when we arrive at Diagaon Alley," the professor replied shortly and explained, "We are going to Apparate from here. Give me your hands, Potter."

Harry hesitantly extended a hand to the teacher, startled when the professor impatiently grabbed both of his hands and frowned. "Potter, your hands are very hot," the teacher stated questioningly, causing Harry to shrug helplessly.

"Are you ill, Potter?" the professor enquired insistently, raising an eyebrow. '_Is that his way to try to attract attention here at home, or is he really sick?_' he mused but dismissed the thought and gave the boy a piercing look.

"I'm not sure," Harry whispered uncertainly, causing the teacher to glare at him.

Severus quickly placed his slender hand on Harry's forehead and sighed. "You are definitely ill, Potter. Why didn't you seek out help from your relatives? Do you believe you're too good to ask others for help, or what's wrong? Well, we don't have time for that now. Provided that you feel well enough to travel to Diagon Alley, we have to leave now."

Harry gave him a short nod, carefully taking the professor's hands again. A few seconds later, they found themselves in a small side street to Diagon Alley. Noticing that the boy obviously couldn't fight the dizziness he was having due to his apparently high fever, Severus steadied Harry for a moment, until the boy stepped back, mumbling, "Thank you, Professor; I'm sorry."

Severus quickly waved his wand at Harry and himself, turning their Muggle attire into proper wizarding clothing, before he unobtrusively waved his wand at the boy once more to assess his condition, careful not to let his emotions show on his face. With a flick of his hand he exchanged his wand with a small potions phial, which he handed to Harry. "Drink up Potter, it's a fever reducer," he ordered him in a voice that told Harry to obey.

Harry quietly took the phial and hesitantly sniffed at the light blue liquid, causing the teacher to let out an impatient snort. "The dunderhead you are in Potions, you won't be able to recognize what it is anyway. As I said it's a fever reducing potion; the fever reducer is the only potion, which has such a light blue colour. Now hurry up, we have to be at the Leaky Cauldron in ten minutes, and considering your walking speed, we should start to head in the right direction as soon as possible."

"Sorry sir," Harry apologized and quickly gulped the potion down, before he handed the phial back, sighing in relief as he felt his body cool down a little. "Thanks a lot, Professor," he whispered, slowly averting his glassy green eyes to the teacher's face.

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They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron just in time. "Hello Harry, thanks Severus," Dumbledore greeted them, only to continue, "Severus, you may return to Hogwarts, I'll send Remus to take Harry back home after the reading."

"No, Headmaster, I'm sorry, but it is necessary that I speak with you and Potter after your meeting."

"All right," Dumbledore agreed, giving his young colleague a questioning glance.

Harry slowly followed the headmaster up into the meeting room, feeling extremely grateful towards the Potions professor, who had helped him to overcome his dizziness by giving him the fever reducing potion. He succeeded in keeping himself upright through the whole meeting, and nobody noticed how ill he was. '_Thank God_,' Harry thought. '_I wouldn't want to be questioned by everyone here_.'

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While the reading of Sirius' will took place at the Leaky Cauldron, Severus Snape strode into Knockturn Alley, heading into a small bookstore, where he searched through a few books, nodding when he found what he was looking for, just in time to head back to Diagon Alley.

Neither Harry nor the headmaster were yet to be seen, so he sat down at the counter and drank a butter beer while he waited. When they finally appeared, Severus noticed that Harry was deeply engrossed in a conversation with Remus Lupin.

"Albus, I suggest to take Potter back to Hogwarts," he whispered to the headmaster, while Harry was still exchanging a few words with Remus.

Dumbledore gave him an exasperated look. "Severus, please put that topic aside immediately. I know that Harry hates it at his relatives' house, but I have my reasons to make him go there; and I hoped if I sent you to fetch him, this wouldn't be an issue."

"It definitely wouldn't, if the boy wasn't dangerously ill," Severus returned, raising an eyebrow at the headmaster.

"Ill?" Dumbledore enquired surprised.

"Yes, Albus; look at him; he's burning up with a fever and he is in a lot of pain. I quickly checked on him before I brought him here and did some research in the meantime. I went to a book shop in Knockturn Alley and found out what could be his problem. According to the information I found, he might have been hit by a dark spell; however, I need a blood sample to confirm my suspicion. Therefore, I suggest that we take the boy to Hogwarts with us."

The headmaster sighed. "Severus, you know that Poppy is not at Hogwarts at the moment. You, Minerva, and I are the only ones remaining at the castle. Will you be willing to look after the boy without getting in huge fights every day, so that he'll cause havoc all over the castle?"

Severus sighed and gave his mentor a short but firm nod, before he explained more about the spell he assumed Harry was hit with.

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"There is a dark spell, which causes the symptoms of the wizard's flu; however, you cannot heal them with a flu potion, and they won't go away if not with the proper antidote, which is not easy to brew. If the person isn't healed in time, he will die of the fever."

Dumbledore sighed. "All right, please take him to Hogwarts, Severus. I will go to his relatives to tell them that he won't return this summer and to fetch his trunk."

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Severus stepped over to where Harry was still talking with Remus. "It's time to leave, Mr. Potter."

"Hello Severus," Remus greeted the man gently. "I can take Harry home later, if you..."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Severus replied sternly. "Please let us go, Mr. Potter."

Harry quietly said good bye to Remus and followed the professor out into Diagon Alley. Severus pulled him over into a nearby side street and once more grabbed Harry's hands to apparate. Harry threw the teacher a confused look when he noticed where they arrived. '_Am I seeing things or is that Hogwarts?_' he thought while he fought against the dizziness. He slowly averted his eyes to the teacher. "Why are we here, Professor?"

"Do you deem yourself to be in a condition to return to your relatives?" Severus sneered, while he slowly released Harry from his grip. "If I just brought you back there, you wouldn't live to return to Hogwarts in September," he added, causing Harry to avert his eyes to the floor.

He slowly walked behind the professor up to the castle, surprised when the teacher led him straight to the dungeons. Seeing his astonished look, Severus explained, "Madam Pomfrey isn't here all the time during the holidays; Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and I are the only ones, who spend the whole holidays in the castle. Therefore, you will have to stay with me, especially if my suspicion concerning your ailment is correct."

"I'm fine, Professor; just let me go back to my relatives, or perhaps I could stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the holidays," Harry spoke up, horrified at the imagination of spending his holidays together with the teacher, who hated him. '_Bad enough that my relatives hate me, but at least they leave me in peace_,' he thought wearily.

Severus stopped in front of a portrait, mumbled a password, which Harry couldn't understand, and motioned the boy to follow him into his private quarters. "The room with the blue door is your room, Mr. Potter," he informed the boy, who was hesitantly glancing around. The huge living room was much lighter than Harry had expected from a room in the dungeons, and he liked the huge fireplace in the room as well as the book shelves that surrounded the room, making it very cosy. Harry slowly followed the professor into the guest room, feeling very awkward at the thought of staying in the teacher's quarters.

"Mr. Potter, sit down here on the bed and tell me exactly what is ailing you and since when," Severus instructed the boy sternly.

Harry complied and hesitantly told the teacher, "It started about when I returned to my relatives, sir. My whole body is sore, and I feel dizzy and cold and hot at the same time. I thought it was some kind of flu and hoped that it would go away, but..." He slowly trailed off, taking in the pattern in the carpet as he shyly averted his eyes to the floor.

"Is it getting worse?" Severus asked sternly.

"Probably yes, I think so," Harry mumbled, watching the detailed pattern of what he had recognized as snakes and dragons in the carpet.

"Why didn't you ask your relatives to bring you to a healer or to St. Mungo's when you felt so bad for a whole month?"

"It wasn't so bad at the beginning, and, well, they hate everything that has to do with magic; they wouldn't take me to St. Mungo's," Harry replied in a small voice. "They don't allow me to complain if I don't feel good," he added hesitantly in an even smaller voice that came out as a whisper.

Severus sighed. '_We will have to have a conversation about his home life some time_,' he thought, wondering why he hadn't noticed earlier that the boy was more abused than pampered like he had assumed so far.

"I have an idea," he said pensively. "However, I have to take a few drops of blood from you and do a few tests with it. It won't take long, and I don't want to give you other potions until I can confirm my earlier diagnose. I suggest that you lie down and rest for a while."

Harry gladly complied. "Thank you, Professor," he mumbled, before he took his robes off and lay down on the comfortable bed, sighing in relief when his head hit his pillow. He was already asleep before the professor spelled three drops of blood from Harry's fist into a small phial.

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Harry woke up by a cold hand on his forehead and lazily opened his eyes. Seeing that he was awake, Severus pulled a chair over to his bedside and sat down, before he began to speak in a soft, silky voice. "Mr. Potter, you were obviously hit by a dark spell, probably by the Dark Lord when you fought against him in the ministry. The spell causes your internal organs to hurt and over the time of a few months to seize working. It also causes your body to fight against the spell, which causes the high fever you are spiking."

Noticing that Harry opened his mouth, he held up a hand to stop him and continued, "There is an antidote against the spell; however, it has to be brewed freshly every day und taken immediately after brewing for a long time, depending on how far progressed the illness is when you start to take the antidote. I'm not sure, but I suspect that it will take about two to three months until you'll be completely recovered, considering that a month has already passed since you fell ill."

"Is there any way that you can teach me how to brew the antidote, so that I can brew it by myself and stay in my dormitory, Professor?" Harry asked hesitantly, giving the man a questioning glance.

"No Mr. Potter, you will have to stay here since you need to be monitored constantly. Your illness will probably proceed to get worse, before the antidote kicks in and your condition slowly improves. I shall teach Madam Pomfrey to brew the potion just in case, so that she would be able to help out if I wasn't available for some reason," the professor replied pensively. "However, I would appreciate if you could help preparing the ingredients, if you felt well enough, and only then," he added sternly.

"Of course I will help, Professor. It can't be worse than weeding the garden at the Dursleys," Harry mumbled, still shocked by the teacher's revelations.

Severus pointed his wand at Harry's head to take his temperature. "I'll give you another fever reducer, which is the only potion I can give you apart from the antidote, and then you can see if you feel well enough to get up and help. I'm going to brew the first potion right now, so that you'll be able to take it before we go to dinner. From tomorrow onwards, I will brew your potion in the morning."

Ten minutes later, Harry was sitting next to the teacher in the potions lab, eagerly listening to his explanations how to prepare the ingredients that were needed for the antidote. In spite of feeling unwell, he enjoyed preparing the ingredients and was nearly disappointed when the teacher sent him back to bed during the brewing process, noticing that the boy's eyes had become glazed over again.

Half an hour later, Severus roused Harry and made him drink the antidote. "You have to tell me immediately, if you notice any problems with the potion," he instructed the boy, but Harry couldn't find anything strange. He couldn't feel any effect either, but the professor told him, "It's not like with other potions that you feel an immediate effect; as I told you, you will have to take the potion for a few weeks or even months until your pain and your fever are completely gone."

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In the morning, Poppy joined Severus and Harry to learn from Severus how to brew the potion and to check on Harry. She could only confirm Severus' diagnose and slid a wrist band over his wrist, ordering him to keep an eye on it and go to bed if his fever became too high.

Harry once more helped to prepare the ingredients, surprised how much he enjoyed his work together with the adults. At the same time, Severus was astonished how adept the boy worked with the ingredients and decided to teach the boy as much about potions as his condition would allow during the holidays, provided that the boy would overcome his hatred against him and would be willing to work together.

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Harry felt as if he was living in a dream. He still couldn't understand why the teacher suddenly behaved so differently towards him. It was not that the man was overly friendly, but he brewed his potion every morning without complaining, checked on him several times a day, and kept an eye on him all the time. They didn't talk much, and if they sat together for meals, most of the time they remained silent.

When Harry felt well enough, Severus and Harry went to the Great Hall to have dinner together with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall; breakfast and lunch they ate in Severus' small kitchen.

As much as Harry had always despised the professor, he couldn't help feeling grateful towards the man, who had willingly taken him in over the holidays to help him and save his life. Moreover, his stay with the professor was much more pleasant than any holidays with the Dursleys had ever been.

During the first weeks since Harry had begun to take the antidote, his condition was still worsening. One morning, Harry woke up to Severus' cold hand on his forehead. However, the professor's features seemed completely blurry, and the man looked like an overly large teddy bear that was going to attack him.

"Mr. Potter, how are you feeling?" Severus enquired; however, he didn't receive a satisfying answer.

"There is a bear, and it's breathing fire at me, but a few minutes ago it was a polar bear that threw snow balls. Can you help me put up a snowball fight, please?"

Severus worriedly pointed his wand to Harry's head, noticing that his fever exceeded forty degrees. He quickly spelled a fever reducer straight into the boy's stomach, causing Harry to become more coherent.

"Mr. Potter, your condition has worsened over night, and you have to remain in bed today," Severus told the boy in his soft, silky voice. "I will ask Professor McGonagall to stay with you while I make the antidote for you," he promised and strode to the fireplace to call his colleague for help.

During the following week, Harry's fever remained dangerously high, and he was delirious and captured in fevered dreams. Severus and Minerva took turns staying with Harry day and night, although he was hardly alert enough to notice his surroundings. However, Harry knew that the two teachers were there whenever he woke up and needed something or had to be comforted after rather bad nightmares, which either involved his uncle or bears and polar bears in turns bothering him. During this time his teachers learned a lot about Harry's relatives, while they looked after him.

Two weeks into August, Harry's condition finally began to improve and he slowly started to take in his surroundings more coherently. He still had a fever and was only allowed to get up for short times, but he insisted on helping with the antidote every morning. A few days, Severus watched Harry's every move; however, he soon noticed that Harry already knew what he was doing, and the two former enemies could work together very well.

'_I like to brew together with Snape_,' Harry thought. '_If he isn't standing behind me breathing into my neck causing me to blow up my cauldron, it's very calming and relaxing_.' Only very hesitantly, he voiced his thoughts to the teacher, who gave him a surprised look.

"In fact, Mr. Potter, you're much more adept than I had ever assumed. Would you be willing to help me brew potions for the hospital wing? I still have many potions to brew for the next school year."

"Yes, if I'm not too much of a bother," Harry replied hesitantly, "I'd like to help you, sir."

"Of course you're not bothering me," Severus replied sternly. "How do you come up with such ideas?" he enquired, only slightly astonished since he had observed many of Harry's nightmares. "One day, we have to speak about your home life, Mr. Potter." Seeing that Harry gave him a terrified look, he continued, "That doesn't have to be right now. We can have this talk when you're completely recovered and are feeling better."

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During the next weeks until the beginning of the new school year, Severus and Harry brewed the antidote every morning, and whenever Harry's condition allowed it, they brewed one more potion for Madam Pomfrey afterwards. As soon as they were finished, Severus normally sent Harry to bed, so that he could take a nap until lunchtime. In the afternoon, Harry was allowed to do his summer assignments, provided that he felt well enough to study. Knowing that Harry didn't have much time left and that he wasn't in a condition to do a lot of research, Severus sometimes helped Harry. He often looked over the boy's shoulder, only to summon a book from his huge book shelf that would help the student with his assignment.

One day during the last week of holidays, Harry hesitantly turned to the professor. "Sir, will I be able to return to my dormitory next week, or will I have to stay here?"

"Is it so bad here?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"I'm sorry sir, no; I didn't mean to say that," Harry replied horrified. "On the contrary; I really enjoyed spending my holidays here; that were my best holidays ever. I just don't want to be such a burden to you. It's bad enough during the holidays, but if school is going to start, you'll be very busy, won't you?" Harry asked in a small voice.

"Harry," Severus said, sighing. "I already told you before that you're not a burden; not to me and not to anyone else. If your relatives told you so, they were wrong." He gave Harry a piercing glance. "Harry, you're not recovered yet. I know that your condition is already much better, but you still have a fever and you're still in a lot of pain. You will have to stay here for at least another month if not two. I will continue to check on you every morning, and if your condition allows it, you may attend some of your classes, provided that you come back immediately if you feel worse or your fever goes up."

Seeing that Harry was listening intensely, he continued, "We'll probably have to adjust our brewing schedule. I can either brew your antidote alone in the morning before you get up, or we can do it together after classes in the afternoon."

Severus threw Harry a glance. "Could you get your time table, so that we could look at it for a moment?"

"Of course," Harry replied and fetched his time table from his room.

The teacher looked at the parchment and asked, "Is there any class that you deem as unimportant or uninteresting for you? I can't imagine that you'll be well enough to attend all of your classes from next week onwards."

Harry gave him a shocked look and replied, "History of Magic and Divination, sir. Maybe Care of Magical Creatures, too, but Hagrid would be very disappointed if I skipped his class."

"Harry, you're not skipping his class. You have to miss several of your classes because you are ill. That's a very different matter," he was admonished softly. Severus waved his wand to obtain a copy of Harry's time table, crossing out the three classes Harry had mentioned. "All right, you can try to attend the remaining classes according to your condition. Potions class is not important," he told the child, "because we can always brew what you have missed during the evening or on the weekend when you feel better."

"All right," Harry replied, feeling very relieved that he didn't have to attend all his classes from the beginning of the school year onwards.

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In the morning of the first of September, Severus woke Harry up in the morning, holding out a phial with the antidote to him. At Harry's confused look, he told him, "We are expected in the Great Hall for breakfast today, and since I assumed that we probably wouldn't have time to brew afterwards, I made the potion a bit earlier today." Seeing that Harry seemed disappointed, he promised, "Harry, this is an exception. From tomorrow onwards, we will brew the potion in the afternoon, and you may help if you're well enough."

"Thanks," Harry replied, gulping the potion down.

"I suggest that you take a shower and dress properly," the professor told Harry, who still felt very apprehensive about the fact that the teacher had bought a huge pile of clothes for him, even if he said that the money had been taken from the Potter vault. Severus had also bought Harry's new school books for him, stating that Harry was in no condition to go shopping.

Thirty minutes later, Severus and Harry arrived at the Great Hall. However, the entrance doors were completely locked off. "I have never seen these doors locked. What's wrong?" Harry enquired worriedly, when suddenly one of the doors opened with a 'Bang.'

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Startled, Harry turned around to get away, but the professor held him firmly, putting a calming arm around his shoulders. "It's all right, Harry. Look in the hall," he told him, causing Harry to throw a frightened glance into the Hall, where suddenly all his teachers, the whole Weasley family, and Hermione began to sing the 'Happy Birthday' song for Harry.

"But it's not my birthday," Harry said confused, glancing at Severus.

"We know that. But you were much too ill on your birthday to even think about a party, and we thought today would be a good day for a birthday breakfast," Minerva, who had appeared through the door, told Harry softly. "A belated happy birthday, Harry!"

"Thank you," Harry replied, still feeling very confused. He slowly followed his head of house into the Great Hall, where everyone else had already taken a seat at the extended head table. In the middle of the table, just in front of the seat between Hermione and Ron that was reserved for Harry, stood a huge cake in form of a Snitch with sixteen candles on it. Harry sat down, completely in awe, until the headmaster leaned over and told him, "You have to blow the candles out, Harry."

Blushing deeply, Harry complied, and as soon as the candles went out, breakfast appeared on the table. Afterwards, Harry was allowed to spend some time with his friends, while the teachers occupied themselves with their last preparations for the school year. When the Weasley twins suggested playing Quidditch, everyone excitedly headed outside, and Harry felt extremely happy when he took into the air. However, after a few minutes of flying, he noticed that he wasn't feeling too well and quickly landed on the ground, where he sat down next to Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, who were watching the others from the stand. A minute later, everyone was standing around him, very concerned that he had willingly left a Quidditch game, and Harry shortly explained about his illness and the spell that had caused it.

"You spent the whole summer with the greasy git?" Ron shouted, terrified.

"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley and Hermione scolded him simultaneously.

"He took me in to save my life, and he has been really nice during the whole summer," Harry explained, before he told his friends that he wasn't allowed to return to his dormitory yet.

"I'm glad that you get along so well with Professor Snape," Hermione said warmly, and Mrs. Weasley agreed immediately.

"Severus is a very good man; however, he is very private and doesn't let people close easily. Therefore, I'm very surprised that he let you stay in his quarters over the whole summer."

"I like staying with him," Harry admitted to Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, after the others had taken back into the air to continue their game. "It's like having someone, who cares about me, like having a family."

"I see that you were wise enough not to aggravate your condition by flying," a silky voice interrupted his musings, and Harry suddenly noticed that the Potions Master seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

"I tried but I came down immediately," Harry admitted in a small voice, feeling extremely stupid, especially when Severus pushed up his sleeve to get a glimpse at the wrist band that showed a number over 39 degrees.

"Well, you're going to take a nice, long nap in the afternoon," the professor said dryly, causing Mrs. Weasley and Hermione to giggle.

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During the next few weeks, Harry was allowed to attend his classes except for the three, on which he had agreed with Severus. However, he couldn't do his homework together with his friends, but had to return to Severus' quarters immediately after his lessons. During his free periods he could either rest or get a head start on his homework, which he finished between the end of classes in the afternoon and dinner. After dinner, Severus used to brew Harry's antidote, and Harry was allowed to help if he was well enough. Often enough, the teacher sent Harry to bed early and spelled the antidote straight into the sleeping boy's stomach later.

It was near Halloween, when Harry's condition finally improved enough for Severus to deem Harry fit to return to his dormitory. His fever had gone back to a slight temperature, and his body didn't feel sore all over anymore. "You may return to your dormitory; however, I want you to take the antidote for another month," the teacher told him strictly. "Moreover, I want to check on you once a day. Please come down to my quarters every day after dinner."

Harry didn't mind that he had to return to the teacher's quarters once a day. In fact, during the four months he had been staying there, he had become used to living together with the professor, and he had liked it very much.

One day in the middle of November, Severus became very upset, noticing that Harry was having a fever again. "Ah, but that's just a stupid cold," Harry then told him, sounding slightly hoarse.

"Since when do you have that?" the teacher enquired sternly.

"Since when I woke up this morning," Harry admitted.

"All right," the professor replied thoughtfully, waving his wand over Harry. "It really seems to come from your cold," he informed Harry and lit his wand to peer into Harry's mouth and ears. "Nevertheless, I'd like you to stay here overnight, so that I can look after you in case you feel worse during the night."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry replied, feeling very happy. "I like my room here very much," he admitted in a small voice, barely more than a whisper.

Severus waved his wand at Harry, transfiguring his school clothing into warm pyjamas, and sent Harry to bed. "Once you're in bed, I would like to speak with you about something," he announced before he stepped to the fireplace to inform Minerva that he was keeping Harry because he was sick.

When Harry was in bed, Severus made him drink a fever reducer, explaining, "I would prefer to give you a Pepper-up potion; however, while you're taking the antidote, you can't take any other potions except for the fever reducer. I hope your cold won't become too bad during the next days."

"Excuse me, sir," Harry enquired hoarsely. "You said there was something you wanted to speak with me about?"

"Yes; in fact, I wanted to speak with you about the matter at the end of the summer holidays. However, I first had to win a fight over Professor Dumbledore."

Harry couldn't help chuckling at the thought, and Severus smirked when he continued, "Well, I won the fight, and I'd like to ask you if you'd want me to become your guardian instead of the Dursleys."

"What? Uh... Sorry, sir. Do you really mean that?" Harry asked, totally confused but incredibly happy.

"Do you believe that I'd suggest something I didn't really mean?" Severus asked back, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Harry whispered and tried to sit up excitedly, but felt himself being pushed back by gentle hands. "Yes sir, I'd like that very much," he replied, throwing Severus a huge smile.

"In that case, Harry, please call me Severus in private, not in class of course," Severus told the excited child, giving him one of his rare smiles. "All right, Harry; then I will try to gain the guardianship, which shouldn't be a problem because Professor Dumbledore is your magical guardian at the moment, and since he agreed to transfer the guardianship to me, it's no problem to override the Muggle guardianship. So this room will be your room permanently, at least as long as you wish to live here," Severus promised.

"Thank you so much, Severus," Harry croaked happily. Before Severus realized what happened, he sat up and pulled his new guardian into a bear hug, not able to hold back his tears of happiness any more.

**The End**

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I'm not a native speaker of English - sorry for all the mistakes!

_All recognizable characters belong to Mrs. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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